t muhammad that was a great introduction
before I start I’d like you
look to your left and your right and
take a shake the hand of somebody that
you might not know or if you do know
them just reintroduce yourself all right
and before we end this before we end
this today I think it’s important to
realize we’re here for connection right
we’re here to connect with each other so
as important as it is for us to get
feedback from you and for you to listen
to us I think if you leave here and you
meet someone that you didn’t know and
you connect with them through social
media is so much easier to do that
nowadays we can really walk away and
become the change so let’s begin
curiosity and power dekat curiosity and
power dekat how did curiosity and power
disk at if I ruled the world imagine
voting power voting influences power
influence is voting power power is
voting influence influence is power
influence is having the capacity to
impact the development of our social
structure the electoral process directly
affects our society when I ask you and I
speak to you about voting power
I mean joining the voting body and
becoming an elected official an
appointed official why I like that face
right now because you look confused why
am I asking you to join this voting body
because if you raise your hand raise
your hand if you have an issue raise
your hand if you have a concern it could
be about anything right
who’s going to address that concern in
that issue for you
what is influence what is voting power
we need people to be involved and more
involved I ran for office eight years
ago and I’ve been involved actively
since then and I got involved because I
saw that there was a lot of apathy a lot
of voting apathy a lot of people that
did not want to get out and run for
office a lot of people I didn’t want to
get out and support the change that they
wanted to see in this world how many of
you don’t have to write the vote that’s
a good one it’s crazy um how many of you
had reasons not to run for office in
right so when I speak to that when I
speak to voting apathy when I speak to
those reasons for not voting I think
about the 1960s I think about civil
rights movement I think about all of the
people that were assassinated in the 60s
for telling the truth and uniting people
MLK Martin Luther Malcolm X JFK RFK
Marilyn Monroe and many other people and
even though we gained civil rights
we lost our justice people became more
apathetic they stopped becoming involved
then there’s a lot of consumerism and
there’s a lot of working and people
telling us what we need to do and as
young people were speaking to a lot of
people we’re in a rush to go to college
we’re in a rush to graduate we’re in a
rush to get a car and a house and all
these things are distractions to those
issues that we all raise our hand we all
have issues and concerns do want this
talk I’m going to speak to why I think
it’s important for all of us to become
elected officials become that voting
body to become those voices for the
underserved because your apathy is my
because we need to become the
complacency in there we need to become
the disturbance in their complacency and
not go away because if we’re not at the
right because if we don’t become the
change that we seek to see in this world
be the disturbance in their complacency
and do not go away one of those issues
let’s address some of those things for
me when I came back home
there wasn’t a men’s basketball league
growing up working up at the Rec when I
was 14 years old I’m 28 now I’ve heard
nothing but we need a rec center for
Public Safety we need a rec center for
public education we need a rec center
for recreational purposes recreational
infrastructure seven years being
involved in government we still don’t
have that because someone who knows this
is what we need I don’t have you you are
you on the council with me voting for
that how many people know that you have
a municipality with an elected body in
New York State everybody has a county in
Dutchess County we have 25 members that
make up our county legislature we have a
state assembly we have a state Senate we
have a governor these are all elected
bodies these people all represent us
they all represent these issues these
concerns that we have and we trust them
to go day by day and handle our issues
whereas this trust gotten us we’ve
become apathetic we don’t think we don’t
we aren’t engaged we become complacent
so when I say be the disturbance in
their complacency I ask you to start
with yourself and look at yourself in
the mirror disturb your own complacency
why aren’t you getting out the vote
three times a year maybe four in the
library election in the school board
election in the primary election in the
general election why aren’t you running
for office when you know that the seven
people on the council aren’t listening
to what you have to say they don’t hear
you they don’t see you so how could they
feel you how could they represent you
they don’t know what your issue is
all you raise your hand because you had
an issue but do you know what form of
government you can actually direct that
concern to if you have an issue about
the school taxes are you going to go to
your city council person are you going
to go to your school board member are
you going to write your state
representative or you going to loop all
of them in be the disturbance and their
complacency and don’t go away it leads
if you’re not at the table then you’re
on the menu be at the table or you’ll be
on the menu what do I mean by that raise
your hand if you think you know what I
mean by that I want to see if you’re
still with me right not being at the
table
I understood that anything that I wanted
I have to go through a different chain
of command and I would have to apply
pressure to these elected officials my
representatives all the time
consistently making contact with these
people all the time because I’m not at
the table because if I’m not at the
table my issues my views my neighbors
issues and views my friends who can vote
issues and views wouldn’t be represented
properly maybe you’d be dismissed maybe
will be mishandled because again they
don’t understand fully so what am I
going to do put my faith and trust into
somebody else or am I going to be the
change I would like to see neither
change that you’d like to see in this
world or you’re going to get eaten up
they’re going to eat us up they’re going
to continue to eat us up day is big and
ambiguous you’re going to continue to
eat yourself up if you don’t get active
and engaged become a member at the table
support those members at the table for
whatever reason you can’t run for office
support the people that do might be a
hundred people in this room all from
different areas all from different
locations you’re going to go home one
day how many of your college students in
this school how many of you live in
I’ve gone from my conversation a bit
because I’m in the audience I know who
I’m speaking to
and I had a really great opportunity
when I came in last night to walk around
the campus and observe and take it in
and I’d be arrogant to say that I got it
like that but I did get to see this area
I did get to see this community I did
get to see how people interacted I did
get to see how diverse it is walking
with life I got to understand the ins
and outs of this place but I also saw
the divide very diverse and very divided
it’s not a problem it can be fixed but
what are we going to do are you going to
be actively engaged in your community is
this your community are you going to put
on a TEDx are you going to join the
fraternity that’s giving back doing
community service are you going to find
the void and fill that gap here in
Rochester and learn how this could be a
blueprint to take back home to beacon to
to Pakistan to Nantucket
who knows are you going to bring it home
with you you have a blueprint right here
you have the platform right here
especially as college students
especially having the ability the
capacity right influence to reimagine
and redefine our social structure our
society our society’s been telling us do
certain things for such a long time and
then we hear from these some people that
we can’t do these things because it
didn’t work then we’re in a different
age today people like myself I need
support I need support on that council I
need support off the council because
being elected isn’t the only thing
government is not the only thing that’s
going to change this society in this
there’s a hundred people in here we need
100 people going back home and running
for office being the change that you
wish to see in this world that goes back
to knowing your issues knowing what you
care about understanding your neighbor
and understanding where they’re coming
from without understanding how could we
resolve any issue the wheel in the
Middle East I don’t mean that offend
anybody could potentially be solved over
hummus and couscous right food we were
talking about music earlier music things
that unite us it is funny but maybe and
it’s a lot deeper than that but let’s
have this conversation why do you want
to be involved in whatever you’re into
who’s ever been brought down because
they don’t have support they don’t feel
like they’ve been supported who wants
that
so again learning and knowing my
audience I was very nervous to do this
more nervous than I let on but you know
what I’ve done this every time I speak
to a constituent I’ve done this for a
while but I don’t get an opportunity to
reach out to people like you and see you
all the time and see how and know that I
am supported you guys are strangers to
me but you know what we’re all part of
the same constituency because we’re here
for a reason and we want to give back
and we want to be the change and we want
sit at the table be at the table if
you’re you’re on the menu be the change
you’d like to see in this world and
who’s hard to turn put your money where
your mouth is right put your mouth where
your your feet walk walk the talk be
that person it’s the time is now it’s
always the right time to do the right
thing now Martin Luther King when you
change whe with I even illness becomes
wellness Malcolm X we have to come
together and we have to unite and we can
do this
God willing universe permitting all the
young people in this room and you’re as
young as you feel we have a lot of work
to do a lot more work to do and we don’t
need more leaders we need more workers
we don’t need more promises or miracles
we need movements read intersectionality
we need to stand together that’s why I’m
here today asking you you you you you
you you you you you all of you to get
involved a little bit more run for
office support that change you’d like to
see in this world I’m not great at math
how many of us get to sleep eight hours
a day right and well here’s the tip I
know we’re active I don’t get to sleep
that much either so let’s pretend we all
get to sleep eight hours a day and we’ve
lived till six years old
we’ve spent twenty years of our life
sleeping if you vote if you vote in your
library school board primary and general
election you know your candidate you
know your incumbent the person who has
held the seat before and running for
re-election you spent time canvassing
for them donating to them let’s say you
do that every year and you lift those 60
you’ll spend less than three days of
your life minimally participating in
government government that directly
affects our society you want to spend
twenty years sleeping or do you want to
spend twenty years actually exacting
change I could keep going on and on and
on but I’m going to finish there thank
you for your time thank you for this
moment and actually I’m going to ask you
three more questions who are we as a
can you be the change you desire to see in this world thank you